The Persuasist: A TwoPart OneShot
by Fullmetal.Alchemist.Fan
Summary: Ed tries to persuade the Furher President! Is he going for his own purposes, or is he truly speaking for the good of his people? A little minor swearing. A One-Shot made into two chapters just so it's not all condensed on one page.
1. Chapter 1

**The "Persuasist"**

**Part 1-The Brat**

Under the couch. No.

Under the table. Nope.

Under his bed? Nu-uh, not there either.

"Alphons-ey, do you know where your big brother is?" Trisha put her hands on her trademark lavender dress, decked with her trademark white apron.

Alphonse stumbled into the room, having recovered from chicken pox the week before, "Nu-uh." His cheeks were red with embarrassment, wondering what his dad would say if he heard Mom call him "Alphons-ey" _Mommy-I mean, Mother, I'm 7 years old! Stop calling me nicknames! You named me Alphonse for a reason, Mommy-Mother!_

"When did you see him last?" Trisha asked, looking down at her youngest son.

"Same time as you, Mommy. This morning." _Hey, if you still want me to be a baby, I'm fine with that. You call me _Alphonse_, and I call you Mommy. Deal?_

"At breakfast? Hmmm," Trisha turned towards Ed and Al's bedroom window and raised her left hand to support her chin while she thought. Where could that little blonde cutie have gone?

A little antenna of blonde hair bobbed among the crowd of military personnel and businessmen. It skudded past the flower shop and hopped around the corner of Central Street, towards Central Headquarters.

Roy Mustang, who had been transferred to Central for a couple of weeks because of a string of meetings he needed to attend about some stupid nationwide problem, was walking down the front steps of HQ, holding papers in his hand and looking extremely bored. Riza Hawkeye, his one hand woman, was-as always-a few paces behind the infamous Flame Alchemist. She held thrice as many papers as the Colonel, but had no spoken complaints.

When Colonel Mustang first saw the little antenna, he took no notice of the small triangular shape. But what did catch his eye was that it was blonde-not common in Amestris-and that it was actually _hair_. What else could it be? A bug's antenna? Sure, it was small, but that made it stand out among the black and brown-haired grown-ups even _more_.

"H-hey, you!" Colonel Mustang shouted, catching Riza Hawkeye's attention and shocking her fully awake. The little strand of hair stopped in surprise. _What a selfish brat_, Colonel Mustang thought, _How the hell'd he know I was talking to _him _and not someone else? _The State Alchemist quickly rethought, thinking how no one else stopped at the comment, so the owner of the hair must've known that he was the odd one out, and had stopped in his tracks.

"You, come 'ere!" Roy called. He locked eyes with the hair, since he couldn't locate the exact space where the eyes where. He was pretty sure this was a little kid-Tucker's dog had lighter fur and would be accompanied by sweet little Nina, who would be followed by Tucker, and that would make the whole situation different.

At first, the hair lowered and shied back a little, as if it sensed danger. Then, it stood up straight, as if in recognition, and strode forward with a strong gait, as if pissed that this man was in existence.

_No surprise there_, Roy scowled to himself, waiting impatiently, while his female subordinate simply watched the "conversation" between the two.

Suddenly, both military personnel gasped. When the hair's owner emerged, so did everything about the owner. A little boy, about 7-9 years old, wearing a green jacket and a little short of average height and stature.

But what was most surprising was his _head_.

Golden hair and golden eyes. As if he had come out of the Central Headquarters Library…

"What?" the kid growled in annoyance, his voice slightly deeper than the normal 8-year-old boy's. His clenched fists shook as he glared into Mustang's eyes.

"Y-you…have gold…eyes…" Riza murmured in horror, "Shouldn't…you be…dead?"

"Dead? I'm as living as can be. In fact, I'm seriously pissed off," the boy crossed his arms, still glaring at the Flame Alchemist. His mouth turned into an equilateral triangle with no base-hey, there IS no need to get all mathematical here, but Roy was an alchemist. That's science for ya.

Roy was the first to calm down and actually start a conversation with the kid, surprisingly, "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at home? We can take you there."

"Take me home? What am I, a little kid-shut up," the boy snarled, daring both adults to nod. When they didn't, the "golden boy" continued, "I need to talk to the Furher."

Roy started skeptically down at the midget child, "And why is tha-"

The boy declared, "You're boring!" and dashed past Roy and Riza. The Lieutenant, having come back to her senses a while before, stuffed her papers in Roy's hands and sprinted after the small blonde.

"I am not!" Roy weeped out loud. Then he remembered that the child had ran off, so he flung the papers to the ground and chased the Lieutenant and the child. _I at least need to get his friggin' name!_

"Go away! I have…have…b…b…" the child stopped running and slowed to a stop. He put one finger on his lip in deep thought, "How did Momma say it…? B..we…su…ness…business!"

As soon as he came up with the word he had learned just recently, Riza scooped him up in her hands. The boy flailed persistently, repeatedly smacking Riza in the face, "LET! ME! GO!"

"I'm sorry, but-" Riza tried.

"I said LEMME GO!" the boy screeched, making heads turn in their direction. Riza felt like blushing but controlled herself as much as she could, now looking like she had put on makeup and it had faded since that morning.

_I can't! _Riza scowled inwardly as Roy finally caught up, huffing and puffing. He caught his breath, supporting himself by putting his hands on his knees, then walked up to Riza and the small child.

"We're taking you…inside," Roy glared at the boy, who returned the glare with 100% efficiency.

"Roy?" Furher President King Bradley stopped the Alchemist in the hall, staring at the blonde child in Riza's arms. The little kid stuck his tongue out at Bradley, who chuckled before Roy had a chance to slap the brat. "Is that…a child?"

Roy saw how the Furher looked at him and Riza suspiciously, and then blushed so hard even some of his neck became beet red, "Oh, no, it's not…er, my child! He said…he wanted to, er-"

"I need to speak with the damn Furher, whoever the hell he is," the child snarled with anger.

"So, I see you haven't washed your mouth out with soap in a long while, huh, boy?" the Furher chuckled, his suspicions about the child's beginnings gone. However, they weren't entirely about Roy and Riza…

The child didn't get the joke at all, while Roy and Riza sweat with embarrassment at the corny joke.

"Why don't you speak with me? Colonel Mustang, Lieutenant Hawkeye, I suggest you leave us alone."

Not having too many suspicions about leaving a child with a sword-wielding king, Roy nodded respectively and beckoned to Riza to follow him towards his temporary office.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Challenge**

"I want poverty to end in Resembool."

"Ohhh," the Furher leaned forward in his seat, "Tell me more."

"I've got a proposition. I teach you alchemy…and you end poverty in Resembool. Give us money so we can live like you city-goers," Edward paced around the other end of the long room, waving his hand around in a small circle.

"Alchemy? Interesting. How should you know how to perform alchemy?"

"I've been studying it ever since I've been able to read," Edward smiled and glanced at the Furher.

"Go on, my boy."

"I know we're just making enough to survive. Yes, we have fun, and have enough time to have fun, but once we're old enough, we're out of that field called a 'school' and in the real fields, working," Ed explained, "I've noticed that right now, my friends are all studying agriculture and only one is studying mechanics, and both she and I have one or less parents. I know for a fact that parents in Resembool will not encourage their children to stray off the path of familiar work and start engineering or medicine studies."

"Ah. So you're saying money will help them?" Bradley inquired.

"I'm saying that one change will change more. Like a suspension bridge. If one cord breaks…"

"The rest do," Bradley finished.

"Exactly," Ed blinked seriously, now staring the Furher down, "Will you accept my offer?"

"I will accept. After all, how harmful could this be?" the Furher smiled.

***~FULLMETALALCHEMIST~***

"Edward! Where were you?" Trisha rushed forward and hugged Ed tightly.

"M-mom…breathe…" Ed squeaked, and his mother let him go and set him down in front of her.

"Tell me now-where were you?" Trisha Elric's eyes narrowed in worry.

"Ah…just being a good citizen," Edward kissed his mother on the cheek, then blushed and walked past his mother.

"Brother…" Al frowned as Ed approached him.

"You'll see," Ed smiled, "It has a set date and everything."

"What…?" Trisha and Alphonse thought out loud at the same time.

***~FULLMETALALCHEMIST~***

"CRAP! HE TOTALLY LIED! NOTHING CHANGED, GOD DAMMIT!"

"Edward, wash your mouth out ten times with soap!"

"Oops…"


End file.
